- 02 SOHC, ~80,000km (50,000 miles)
- chasing down a ridiculous noise from motor (see here); judging by the title of the vid at the time I thought it was the Kenne Bell making the noise but it's not (blower has been completely rebuilt and noise persists)
- noise is worse hot; barely noticeable cold t gets progressively louder as the temp gauge moves up
- intensity seems to vary with throttle load; while coasting I don't really hear it much; under heavy throttle not really noticeable; under part-throttle, light/normal accel it can get quite loud (see vid)
- today I removed the accessory belt and drove gently around the block; no noise so problem is in the accessories (BTW, these cars are freakin' scary without power assist on the brakes...)
- belt tensioner and idler pulleys are brand new
- noise doesn't change with electrical load nor when A/C is cycled
- no whining from P/S pump
- no leaks from anywhere
- noise seems to emanate from the front upper right (pass side) quadrant of the engine
My current belief is some sort of issue in the alternator. The noise basically started after the blower install a few years ago and in the KB configuration the alternator is mounted so it spins in the opposite direction. The alt is also at the upper right. My suspicions are piqued...
However, I noticed as I was about to put the accessory belt back on that the waterpump seems to have a decent amount of radial play. Not much axial but the radial play is quite noticeable. I don't have a means to measure but I'd guess it's ~0.020", maybe more. No leaks yet (though I think I've caught a whiff of coolant once in a while) but I can see this potentially being a source of a "resonant" noise like I hear in the vid if the thing acts like a shopping cart wheel at certain RPM points.
So: How much radial play is too much in a 4.6 water pump? I figure it's got roller bearings so it should have none but I just want to verify.
- chasing down a ridiculous noise from motor (see here); judging by the title of the vid at the time I thought it was the Kenne Bell making the noise but it's not (blower has been completely rebuilt and noise persists)
- noise is worse hot; barely noticeable cold t gets progressively louder as the temp gauge moves up
- intensity seems to vary with throttle load; while coasting I don't really hear it much; under heavy throttle not really noticeable; under part-throttle, light/normal accel it can get quite loud (see vid)
- today I removed the accessory belt and drove gently around the block; no noise so problem is in the accessories (BTW, these cars are freakin' scary without power assist on the brakes...)
- belt tensioner and idler pulleys are brand new
- noise doesn't change with electrical load nor when A/C is cycled
- no whining from P/S pump
- no leaks from anywhere
- noise seems to emanate from the front upper right (pass side) quadrant of the engine
My current belief is some sort of issue in the alternator. The noise basically started after the blower install a few years ago and in the KB configuration the alternator is mounted so it spins in the opposite direction. The alt is also at the upper right. My suspicions are piqued...
However, I noticed as I was about to put the accessory belt back on that the waterpump seems to have a decent amount of radial play. Not much axial but the radial play is quite noticeable. I don't have a means to measure but I'd guess it's ~0.020", maybe more. No leaks yet (though I think I've caught a whiff of coolant once in a while) but I can see this potentially being a source of a "resonant" noise like I hear in the vid if the thing acts like a shopping cart wheel at certain RPM points.
So: How much radial play is too much in a 4.6 water pump? I figure it's got roller bearings so it should have none but I just want to verify.
